Jaguar Cichlid or Senegal Bichir / Questions

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Which of the 2 do you prefer?

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NCStateFisher

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
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I'm currently trying to decide whether to get a single jaguar cichlid or a pair of senegal bichirs. I'm going home this weekend to pick up my old 45 gal for my apartment (36"x12.5" footprint) and will be getting my girlfriend's grandparent's 100 gal around christmas, so the 45 will just be temporary as i know both the fish i'm interested in can get big, particularly the jag. I'm going to list off as much basic info as I think I know about the 2 and I would appreciate it if people with more experience could correct me or give me any pointers, particularly on their feeding habits as I am on a very limited budget as a college student. One of the most important bits of information I need to know are their growth rates, as they will be in the 45 gal for approx 3 to 4 months.

Jaguar Cichlid
LFS purchase size: approx 2-3"
Growth Rate: ?
Adult Size: approx 16-20"
Tank Mate compatibility: Pleco
Tank Setup: Like plants and rock/driftwood to hide around?
Water Temp: anywhere from 72-82 degrees F
Diet: Cichlid Flakes/Pellets or Freeze dried Bloodworms/brine shrimp eventually occasional feeder fish?

Senegal Bichir
LFS purchase size: approx 3-4"
Growth Rate: ?
Adult Size: approx 12-14"
Tank Mate compatibility: Most Fish that won't fit in it's mouth, no pleco's cuz they eat slime coat.
Tank Setup: Like sandy bottom with rocky hiding places?
Water Temp: 72-82 degrees F
Diet: Freeze dried bloodworms/brine shrimp or Shrimp pellets eventually occasional feeder fish?

Once Again, PLEASE correct me/verify anything I have listed wrong, that's the whole point of this thread. I'd rather know what I'm doing wrong than not have the fish healthy. I'd much rather trust the people on here with legitimate experience with either of these fish than the people working at petsmart or any other LFS as I haven't found one around my city that I trust yet.
 
I don't believe the sen's get quite that large, I've heard they're usually closer to 10-12". I feed mine hikari sinking carnivore pellets, freeze dried bloodworm (stopped with these as my filter was eating more of them than my fish were) and I'm starting with krill. I'm probably going to get a breeding pair of convicts for my 20gal soon and let them eat the spawn whenever it comes around. They seem to be growing about a half inch to an inch per month. They've been fine with my two mystery snails (too large to eat right now) and my jack dempsey, although dempsey did start to fin-nip while they were stuck in a 20gal (all juveniles, mind you) I haven't seen much or any of that in the 65.

I've read that juvenile sen's like to have floating plants, in nature they would hang out there while their lungs developed (or something like that) but mine have been fine without it. I have noticed them hanging out on the suction cups for my spray bar and heater though. They did fine on my black gravel w/ fake cave & asian decor in the 20, and now they seem to like my sand/rock/driftwood setup in the 65. I usually keep them at 80* but right now they're handling 85* to try and fend off ich (my pleco got it in the 20 right before I moved the other 3 over to the 65, haven't seen signs on any of the other fish).

They are more active during the day than I was led to believe, but it might just be because they're so young.

I know...nothing new here from what was said in the other thread, but I figured I'd put it all here since it applies and you can have all the info to compare in one place;)
 
always good to stay organized with it :P
 
get the jag, life long companion and will do fine in a 100, it will eat whatever u feed it and is extremely beautiful + entertaining, also being quite an active fish it dosent sit at the bottom of the tank all day long
 
favorite fish i ever had was a largemouth bass that we raised from about an inch minnow to about 3 lbs (RIP died of ick) and the jag reminds me kind of a tropical bass that's more active if that makes any sense so im kinda leaning toward those :P any of you guys know their rate of growth approximately when young?
 
jags all the way........
 
Growth rate depends on a few factors, the biggest of them which are listed in order of largest influences:

1. Frequency of water changes.

2. Tankmates and pecking order in the tank.

3. Diet
 
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